


Where We Belong

by 90sgillovny



Category: Waterloo Road (TV)
Genre: Gen, Multi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-06
Updated: 2020-11-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 17:22:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,095
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27410386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/90sgillovny/pseuds/90sgillovny
Summary: Rachel Mason returns to Waterloo Road and Lorraine Donnegan doesn’t seem too happy about it.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 6





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I promise there’s a good reason why Lorraine isn’t thrilled with Rachel being back.

Rachel pulls into the car park of Waterloo Road for the first time in a long time. It’s not the same building, or even the same country for that matter, but it still feels somehow like coming home. The familiarity of seeing Grantly’s car and the school sign was comforting, but it was different enough to be the fresh start she was looking for. She looked in her rear view mirror, adjusted her hair clip and told herself there was no reason to be nervous.

“Rachel?!” She hears a voice calling from the other side of the car park and her face breaks out into a grin on sight of the man.

“Tom!” She goes to meet him in the middle and his arms are already outstretched for a hug which she walks right into.

“What you doing here?! Are you back? Well, obviously, you’re stood there. But here, are you back for the school?” Rachel follows as Tom leads them into the school laughing silently at his excitement.

“Well, nothing’s official yet. I spoke to a lady, Lorraine, on the phone. She wanted to meet first, of course.”

“Ah, the Queen Bee. Oh, speaking of.” He nodded in the direction of the sound of Lorraine’s high heels marching down the corridor.

“She’s nothing you can’t handle, Rach. I’m so glad to have you back. I’ll see you later.” Tom reassured her with a smile and a touch of her arm then hurried off before Lorraine reached them.

“Ah, you know Tom already then? Lorraine Donnegan. And you must be-“ She held her hand out and Rachel shook it firmly. 

“Rachel Mason. And yes! Tom was at Waterloo Road when I was Head Teacher.” She explained as Lorraine led them both to Michael’s office.

“Morning Michael. This is Rachel. She’s interviewing for the Head of Biology post.” Lorraine said as she let herself in, Rachel following behind. The younger blonde leaning against the window sill behind Michael’s desk as Rachel leaned over to shake his hand.

“Morning, Lorraine. Nice to meet you, Rachel. I hardly think it’s much of an interview, though. You’re more than qualified for the position but of course, we wanted to make sure everything felt right, on both sides, before we crossed any T’s or dotted any I’s.” Michael gestured to the chair next to Rachel and they both sat down.

“Yes of course, well, as you probably know from my phone call with Lorraine, I took some time off-“

“Three years.” Lorraine commented. 

“I took some time off.” Rachel persisted. “But things... changed. And I realised that this is where I’m supposed to be. Waterloo Road has always been where I’ve belonged. I’ve always been a teacher-“

“Except when you were a prostitute.”

“Lorraine. That’s not relevant here.” Michael dismissed the comment and shot her an angry look. Lorraine shrugs and looks at the floor.

“No, it’s okay. Yes, I have a past. But the past is what it is. All that was before I was even Head Teacher and it’s nothing to do with why I took time off before, so you needn’t worry that my past will affect my work here. I’ve realised that this is where I need to be, where I want to be.” Rachel stood up as the lunch bell rang, deciding the conversation was over for herself and if they wanted to continue hashing over her past then it just wasn’t worth it. But Michael smiled and stood up with her, taking her toward his office door.

“Feel free to hang around in the staff room for as long as you want. Have a look around the school. I’m sure you’ll know someone who can take you for a wee tour.” He says and as Rachel nods and goes to head off he steps out of his office after her and whispers. “Don’t worry about Lorraine, she thinks she’s an ice queen but she knows what’s good for the school. I’ll have a word but I don’t think she really needs convincing. I’ll find you in a bit and let you know for sure.”

“Thanks. I’ll see you soon.” She smiles as she turns and sees Tom heading to the staff room. “Tom!” She calls after him and he waits for her to catch up and shows her the way.

“Rachel Mason as I live and breathe!” Grantly said dryly, peering over his Racing Post. “Ah, no ring I see.”

“Still as perceptive as ever, Mr Budgen.” Rachel replied, unfazed, waving over his paper to show her empty hand.

“I don’t have a class till last hour, Rachel. I could show you round a bit if you want?” Tom offered, handing Rachel a cup of tea.

“Oh, that’d be nice. Have a look at what I might be letting myself in for.” She joked.

“Might be?! They’d be mad not to take you on.”

“She’d be mad to let them. She escaped once already.” Grantly scoffed, folding his paper away as the bell rung for lunch to end and he made his way out of the room along with all the other teachers.

Just as Tom was about to take Rachel for a look around Michael and Lorraine walked in, obviously not realising there was anyone still there.

“I just don’t think it’s a good idea, Michael. She already upped and left once. It just doesn’t seem like she’s very reliable. We don’t need to be looking for a replacement after five minutes.” Lorraine clocked Rachel about halfway through her sentence but it didn’t stop her.

“I’ve already told you this is where I want to be. If you don’t believe me then that’s your choice but if you think I’m the right person for the job then surely I at least deserve the chance to prove myself?” Michael spun round in shock toward the voice coming from the back of the room.

“Rachel. I didn’t realise you were here. I was just coming to find you to say welcome to Waterloo Road. We’d be lucky to have you on board.”

Lorraine just scoffed and left the room in a hurry, letting the door slam behind her.


	2. Chapter 2

“What’s going on with you?” Sian sat on the side of her desk, looking down at the blonde sat in her chair who had her head in her hands after storming out of the staff room. 

“I just.” She sighed in frustration, struggling to find the words. She knew Sian would never judge her, they had a different kind of bond than she’d ever had before. “You know who Rachel was before?” Sian furrowed her brow in shock. 

“I didn’t have you down as the type to judge someone for doing something like that, Lorraine.” She said quietly and Lorraine panicked, shaking her head frantically, she’d already convinced herself she’d ruined everything. But Sian knew there was more to the story when she saw tears forming in icy blue eyes. 

“Something’s wrong. Whatever it is I can help you through it. You can tell me.” Sian took Lorraine’s hand and she squeezed it in return in a silent ‘thank you for not leaving’. She took a deep breath and wiped a stray tear with her free hand. 

“It’s the opposite.” She started. “When I was nineteen.” Sian already knew what was coming. She reached over and gently touched the other woman’s cheek. “It’s okay.” She whispered. 

“I’m not proud of it-“ 

“Stop right there. You should be. Never ever be ashamed of the path you took to become the fucking boss that you are today.” Lorraine was fully sobbing now. Mostly from the overwhelming feeling of validation and relief. 

“Sian, I just look at her and I see what I went through. I left everything from that time behind. I haven’t let myself think about it for years and then she turns up and it feels like a flood. I’m not ashamed of it, I just didn’t know what I was doing at that age. Things happened-“ She was interrupted by Sian pulling her into a tight hug, she melted into it. 

“You don’t have to explain yourself, not if you don’t want to. Another time, eh? When you’re feeling up to it.” Sian’s heart broke at the feeling of her best friend shaking in her arms. 

-

It’s been three weeks since Rachel returned to Waterloo Road and she’s in the middle of her third argument with Lorraine. Perched on the edge of her desk, watching Lorraine pace around the classroom complaining about the fact she hadn’t done the Year 12 end of term tests. 

“I mean, it’s not hard, Rachel. If you weren’t up to it, why did you come back?” 

“Lorraine, they weren’t ready for it. The deadline isn’t until the last day. Wouldn’t you rather have to look over a few test papers that actually have good results a bit later, than rushing them into it just so you can have an extra day off?” 

“Don’t forget who’s working for who, Ms Mason.” Lorraine says in a low tone and Rachel sees red then. 

“Do not treat me like a child, Miss Donnegan.” She retorted, probably raising her voice more than she would’ve liked meaning Sian could hear her as she passed in the corridor. 

“Everything alright?” She said before Lorraine could retaliate. Raising an eyebrow at the blonde, who she’s told more than once to just speak to Rachel about things. 

“Sort her out.” Rachel said under her breath and left the room, the door closing behind her. 

-

The door of the staff room swung open as Rachel blew through like a storm. 

“Another encounter with the Wicked Witch of Waterloo Road, is it?” Tom laughed but quickly stopped when he realised Rachel wasn’t in a joking mood. 

“I mean, who the fuck does she think she is?! She actually pulled the ‘do you know who i am?’ card. She’s bloody lucky to have me.” She ranted all while throwing a cup of tea together. 

“Ah, she’s not really that bad once you get to know her. It seems like she’s got some stuff bottled up to me.” Tom suggested, moving from the counter to sit across from Grantly.

“Once a mare...” Grantly mumbled. 

“Bit harsh, Grantly.” Rachel said, wide eyed. 

“What? No. OnceAMare. 3:15 at Carlisle.” Rachel laughed, of course he was talking about a racehorse. 

“Look, why don’t you have a word with her, a calm word. We’ll see if we can get her to come down the pub or something. See what it’s like out of school?” Tom asked and Rachel didn’t say anything for a minute.

“Why not, but if she tries to go for me you have to promise to hold her back.” She said finally, only half joking. 

-

Sian put her hands on her hips, she didn’t have to say anything for Lorraine to know what she wanted. 

“You can’t force me to tell her, Sian.” Lorraine snapped and slumped herself into Rachel’s chair at her desk. 

“Force?! I’d never-“ She stopped herself, rubbing her forehead to calm down before she continued. “Lainey, I can’t even begin to imagine how hard it is for you to talk about. I’m sorry that you feel like I’m trying to force you into something, but I would never.” She sat directly in-front of Lorraine on the edge of Rachel’s desk, their legs touching. “I really do think that it would be good for you to have someone who understands. Rachel seems like the type of person I’d want on my side, don’t you think?”

“I’m sorry. It’s hard. I want to speak to her, I do. But something just won’t let me. You’re the only person who wasn’t there at the time that I’ve ever told, and look how close we are, and I still struggled.” Lorraine paused to think for a second. “But I’ll tell her. You’re right. I’ve been acting like a right bitch and it’s not her fault, she doesn’t deserve it.”

“You don’t deserve it either. The stress you’re putting on yourself, not letting anyone in. I’m glad you felt like you could tell me and I wish I could make everything better but I honestly think Rachel could be a big help if you’d let her.” 

“I don’t deserve a friend as good as you.” Lorraine said, looking up at Sian with sad eyes. Sian smiled softly at her and leaned over to kiss the top of her head. 

“You deserve the world.” She told her and for once, Lorraine might have believed her.

**Author's Note:**

> Ch2 Teaser 
> 
> Sian & Lorraine and Rachel back in a classroom!


End file.
